Carl Rydquist (born 1977 in Göteborg) is a Swedish-American FIA Silver and Trans-Am racing driver and a SAG-AFTRA licensed stunt and precision driver who has won many auto races and racing championships. Rydquist gained notoriety for his speed in 2001 when he beat more than 1100 enthusiasts and professional racedrivers in a gocart challenge created by Eurosport to promote their Super Racing Weekend FIA GT and ETCC sports coverage. The event propelled him to his first GT Endurance ride with Apex Racing's Porsche. Rydquist actively competes in racing and has competed in professional drifting. In Rydquist's auto racing career, he currently has a victory in more than one third of his races and podium finishes in three out of four Touring and GT car endurance and sprint races. Rydquist won the Zandvoort 500 during the 2005 Dutch Winter Championship making him the first of only three Swedish drivers to ever win this race, following three successful seasons in the Swedish Endurance Racing Cup which earned him two GT-class titles (2001, 2004). This was the starting point of his international racing career in Europe and the USA. Racing career Rydquist began his racing career with sports car club racing in 1996-2000 with his father's Lotus Super Seven Replica. Rydquist gained racing experience and won the Göteborg Sports Car Club racing championship in 2000. In 2001, Rydquist earned his break into professionally organized racing by qualifying as the fastest driver during a weeklong gocart race (Eurosport Super Racing Weekend Challenge). The qualifying held at the 2001 Göteborg Auto Show saw more than 1100 drivers battling for a spot in the pro finals to compete against professional racing and karting champions. Rydquist's #1 laptime automatically secured a spot in the Top 32 driver roster. Through the bracket of 6-driver heats, Rydquist continued to beat all present professional racedrivers and karting aces, until the final 6-driver heat where Rydquist took 3rd place, with professional racing star Peter Dumbreck and karting racer Fredrik Danielsson in first and second places. Shortly following the race, Rydquist was invited to test for the professionally operated Swedish GT racing team Apex Racing, a branch of Elgh Motorsport, co-owned and operated by professional racedrivers and Le Mans veterans. The test went successful and Rydquist brought the Apex Racing Porsche 964 RS to a GT-class victory in the 2001 Swedish Endurance Cup season through four 8H and 12H races, claiming 1